Frankenstein (1st half)

 

Right off the bat I thought it was very interesting that we found out why the story was written and how it was inspired. Initially I would not have thought it was written by a mother on a family vacation. It is even more interesting that its intent was for a friendly writing contest. There was never an intention that this would become one of the most famous stories known. 

It was then intriguing to start off with the four letters, giving us some information, understanding and history of the characters. It definitely sets up the story well and makes me want to keep reading to find out the stranger’s story, which we soon learned is Victor Frankenstein. 

It was somewhat surprising to see Victor be so fascinated by ideas and thoughts of the universe and the study of philosophy at such a young age. We tend to see children that think so deeply like that turn into either a super smart adult or an insane adult. I definitely saw this as foreshadowing and the type of character he will grow up to be. After reading about how engrossed he became in his studies and leading him to create life himself, it definitely made me lean towards the insane side. 

Victor’s  creation had terrified him so much it brought back horrible flashbacks of his mother’s death. He had scared himself so bad, a wicked sickness was triggered, and he even had PTSD-like symptoms after he had gotten better. We see this as he begins to feel ill when even talking to his professors, reminding him of his studies and project he had produced, which scared him to the point he ran away from his own home. 

My idea of Victor seeming insane definitely comes up in the next part of the story, as his brother is murdered. Victor thinks it is his monster that is responsible for the murder but he still let an innocent person take the blame. He didn’t want to explain his creation to others and “seem insane”. Justine being executed for the murder of the brother now puts the guilt of two deaths on Victor’s conscious; Justine and his brother. 

When Victor then goes to find some peace, he runs into the monster and is told by the monster his life story. It is somewhat comical to picture a monster figuring life out for himself and hearing it from his perspective. 

I think it is so entertaining to read this story, but I can’t help but think that it is supposed to be a scary story and it does not seem super scary.. It seems to be such a different horror story than the ones we read and watch nowadays.